Jean-Christophe Lagarde, an atypical route centrist – The World

C is the new image of centrism. Jean-Christophe Lagarde, 47, became president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) at the end of the internal vote centrist activists, with 53.49% of votes. The result was declared Thursday, November 13th. Mr. Lagarde replaces Jean-Louis Borloo, who left politics in April for health reasons

The campaign was fierce in its final stretch. Suspicion of cheating and nepotism marred the debate. And we have seen a resurgence of old hatreds between the two finalists, Hervé Morin and Jean-Christophe Lagarde. The two men had already met in 2012 at an extraordinary congress of the New Center, after which Mr. Lagarde was party to found the European Democratic Force (EDF), small centrist. The second round of the election to the internal UDI – which Congress was held Saturday, November 15 -. So sounded the hour of revenge

To win, Mr. Lagarde has relied on a focused on the independence of the center compared to the UMP, especially on a presidential bid in 2017. And this speech, even if hardly anyone outside the Seine-Saint-Denis, where it is based, does not know who he is. “A candidate for the Elysee nobody knows! We’ll go far! “, also ridicules a supporter of Hervé Morin.

Costume and impeccable verb debited accelerated, Jean-Christophe Lagarde has few doubts. Heavy smoker, he continues cigarettes into his office to explain his vision of the center right. “I’m a centrist at …